Anchors Of Our Past
by DistractionCake
Summary: Post S3 Finale: Quinn and Puck finally have a conversation about that kiss. "That's bullshit and you know it, Quinn. You said you loved me and then.." he trails off. "And then what, Puck?" she asks him in the same biting tone.


_Just don't fall__  
__Recklessly, headlessly in love with me__  
'__Cause it's gonna be__  
__All heartbreak__  
__Blissfully, painful, and insanity__  
__If we agree__  
__Oh, you can hang with me  
_

He's leaning against the door-frame of her room. A small smile playing on his lips as he sees her dance – _dance, move, breathe, live_ – as she packs up her room to the sound of Robyn's Hang With Me. He only knows the song since the album has been on repeat in her iPod for the last few weeks.. NOT because he's a pussy. He's just attentive is all... And that doesn't make him a pussy either. It makes him a good.. a good friend is all.. _Yeah, exactly man. _He thinks.

It's summer and it feels like packing is the only thing his friends do anymore. They're all packing up their lives to go start anew somewhere else. He'd be jealous if not for the fact that he's doing the same thing...and it's all thanks to this girl.

She turns around now and stops abruptly as she sees him there. She moves over to lower the volume on her speakers before addressing him with a glare.

"How did you get in?" He'd be worried she was actually pissed if it wasn't for the mirth shinning in her eyes.

"Chill, your mom will still be able to walk tomorrow." he answers her.

It takes her a second to understand what he means.

"PUCK! GROSS!" she shouts at him while she grabs her pillow and flings it at him.

He can't help but laugh. "Just kidding, Q. Except your mom did let me in, though. Said you were busy packing up stuff. Since, you know, you leave soon and all to start your new _awesome_ life in Yale." He doesn't mean for it to come off sounding a bit pissed, but it still does. He's not mad at her for making something of herself, he's just annoyed that she had to be, what like 2,000 and something miles away from him. He steps into the room, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it.

She sighs before speaking. "Puck, you're headed to LA. You're getting out, too. I thought that's what you wanted, so I can't see what the problem is."

"Are we just not going to talk about it? Are we going to pretend it never happened?" He asks suddenly. He's damn sure she knows what he's talking about, and her answer proves him right.

"Puck, we kissed and that's it. There's nothing to talk about." She answers with false bravado.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Quinn. You said you loved me and then.." he trails off.

"And then what, Puck?"she asks him with the same biting tone.

"And then I found myself again. It's like kissing you, it righted my world, Q. I passed the damn test, I graduated." - _And I made you proud of me, _he can't help but think - "It was all thanks to you. You, Quinn, you brought me back, that same old badass Puck, but like, without losing my true essence. I was still Noah, you know?"

He tries to explain it as best he can, how his old attitude and confidence came rushing back, but without losing his conscious and humanity...or something.

"Puck..." Quinn is at a loss for what to say, so Puck continues with what he was coming to really talk to her about.

"I spoke to Rachel last night."

"What?" Quinn asks, clearly caught off guard by the sudden change in topic.

"She was drunk all by herself in her apartment. Said she needed to numb the pain and loneliness of being by herself in the city." he says.

"I know. I spoke to her yesterday, too. I told her that as soon as classes start she'll definitely start making new friends. Plus, I'll be in New Haven soon enough, too."

"Yeah, yeah. The point is, she said something to me that - well it got me thinking." Puck says as he pushes himself off the door and walks closer to Quinn. She follows his movements with her eyes.

"Well, what was it?" It comes out softer than she probably intended it to.

"Said to me that she should've just followed your advice. Left behind all those anchors of her past and not tried to drag them into her future. Said she thought it probably would've hurt less that way."

"Puck.." Quinn tries to quietly explain, but he cuts her off. Moving even closer to her.

"See, the thing is, she's right. You were right. You didn't need anything dragging you down when you finally" he takes a deep breath to keep the tears rushing to his eyes at bay "Finally managed to stand up." Quinn's eyes water as well, the meaning of those words – of the challenges and obstacles that she's faced in her life – not lost to her. Both the figurative and literal sense of those words.

"But, there's something I think you forgot." he says quietly.

"What?"

"That whether you want me to or not, I'll always be part of your life, because of Beth. Because of our daughter. Because you changed my life in a way I could never have imagined. And I know I did the same to you, even if at the time it seemed for the worse. But some part of me likes to think that it's thanks to all that, that you are_ the_ strongest woman I have ever met in my life."

Quinn closes her eyes and takes a shuddering breath before opening them again. Hot tears leaking out into her cheeks.

"I don't regret a single thing anymore." she says locking eyes with him.

Puck walks closer, now finally in her personal space. She doesn't back away, not from him, not this time.

"But, there's something else I think you don't know." he whispers.

"What?" Quinn asks just as softly.

Puck cups her cheeks and kisses her. His lips on hers, a moment where he tries to convey exactly what he's feeling. She kisses him back and it's like all is right in the world. Like he's finally where he belongs._ I'm home._

He pulls back and rests his forehead against hers. She places her hands over his, still cupping her face.

"I'm not an anchor anymore." He finally answers. She laughs a bit before pulling back and looking at him once more.

"We're_ Puck and Quinn_, aren't we?" she asks him.

"Damn, right." He says. She laughs again and move forward to kiss him deeper this time.

And as the lyrics to Robyn's Indestructible quietly fill the air around them, he think that maybe, just maybe, LA and New Haven aren't that far apart.

_But I'm gonna love you like I've never been hurt before__  
__I'm gonna love you like I'm indestructible __  
_


End file.
